How to Make a Flag Cake with Your Children This 4th of July

There are so many things to do when preparing our 4^th of July holidays. From the clothes to the party decorations it is easy to get overwhelmed. Let's take some time out this year and do something fun with our children. Create a flag cake this year and let your kids help. This is a simple process and your children can be involved in each step.

Baking the Cake

Feel free to choose any type of cake mix you wish. I recommend white cake mix so you can add your own red or blue food coloring to make the cake festive. Follow the cake directions and bake in a 9x13 glass pan.

When the cake is done carefully remove it from the glass pan and place on a wire rack to cool.

After 30 minutes to an hour your cake is ready for the next step, carving.

Carving the Cake

Place your cake on a flat surface and get out some butter knives. Leave the left side of the cake a smooth shape and let your children create "waves" in the other 3 sides to make the flag look like it is waving in the wind. Three "waves" on each long side, and 1-2 on the shorter side will be enough.

Look at a flag photo if you need help. Save the cake pieces you cut off for your kids to decorate and eat later.

Making the Icing

Using a large tub of white icing you're going to create some additional red and blue to decorate the cake with.

Place 1 cup of white icing in a bowl and add 5 drops of red food coloring. Mix and add additional drops of food coloring until your icing is the color red you want.

Repeat this with the blue icing.

Decorating the Cake

This is the fun part of the entire flag cake process. You get to see the cake come to life. Using the white icing and a butter knife cover the top left corner in a square shape, then add one large blue star using the blue icing in the middle of your white square. You can add lots of blue stars using a toothpick as the applicator if you want more than one star.

Start at the top of your cake and start creating your stripes. Red stripe will start off the pattern on your cake to match the original American Flag.

Try serving your cake at a party or after fireworks on the 4^th of July. You are going to make memories with your children and take time out from the hectic activities of the holiday.